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A really great monitor, a fantastic display, which surprisingly had no ghosting in games when using the DVI connection.

But when I plugged this into a VGA connection on a Radeon 9000 AGP card, and the image was pretty dire. Several vertical bands, each of which blurred an entire column of the display. Okay, it could've been the video card, but it looked fine on a CRT monitor. You've been warned !

The worst thing about this monitor is the price.
Dell's pricing policy in the UK is madness.

One of my work colleagues bought this monitor recently, and was charged £299+vat+delivery.
Two weeks later, the same monitor from the same Dell website cost £243 INCLUSIVE of VAT and delivery, so I bought one for work and one for home. And love it.

And now, two weeks later, Dell's website is back selling it at £354 inc.

Seriously, how can you recommend a product whose price is springing around so much ?

At £243 inc for a quality brand 19" DVI monitor, it's a steal. Buy one now. But don't pay much more than this. With Dell's never-ending and never-static list of special offers and "Must end in 2 days"-style discounts, it's worth holding on for a week or two to save yourself a lot of money.

Btw, speakers aren't included - but you can buy a matching Dell Soundbar thing to clip on the bottom of the display for £30+vat. Dell's website gives no indication of how powerful these speakers are, so it's hard to know if to recommend them.

I just had my local friendly cable co install a SA 4200HD and, when I connect it to my 1905fp the LCD simply displays "cannot display this video mode"

I hoped it just needed to be configured, but the message continued when I went into to box's automagcic HDTV configuration screen. So I'm pretty sure now this LCD doesn't support DVI/HDCP, only normal DVI.Reply

I hooked up my Denon DVD-1910 to the monitor using Dell's DVI cable. The video kept switching on and off. I'm assuming this is because Dell uses an 18-pin DVI cable, whereas the DVD player requires a 24-pin cable. When the video was visible, picture quality was excellent (the same as playing a PC DVD player like WinDVD, although my Denon has better deinterlacing). Unfortunately, the red drift artifacts were still visible.

I just received an exchange unit, and much to my dismay it has the same defect. I think it's time to call Dell again, return both these units, and pick up a 2001FP before they disappear.

Look at Keanu's right inner ear (well, the left inner ear from our point of view) and the right (left) part of his upper lip. Notice how there's a very strong hue of red on those parts? That's an example of what I see, but mine is more exaggerated when people and objects are moving.

Does anybody else see this artifact when watching movies? I have Dell sending me another 1905FP as an exchange so I'll verify if the entire line has this problem. If so, I think I might pick up a 2001FP while they're still available and see how an IPS panel performs compared to this VA panel.

Could you please explain what "red shift" means? I just received a 1905FP, and while I was watching a Sex and the City episode I noticed a red drift/shift type of artifact. It was as if the red colour was lagging behind everything else. It was easiest to see under their noses, like they were all getting nosebleeds. Other than that, I haven't really seen this "drift" in other media. I'll keep watching and let everyone know.

I just recieved mine as well. It was 20% off so it was a fantastic price when you compare it to the Samsung. Movies aren't great on it but I'm quite happy with the quality in games. I've come from a CRT and this is my first LCD. When I first played HL2 on it I wasn't overly pleased but after adjusting the brightness etc. it is now great.Reply

Just bought this monitor, everything looks perfect. There is very little ghosting, and the contrast is very good. Like #54, video is very blocky when playing DivX/XviD/whatever. But I think this because of the lack of blooming in LCD screens, artifacts of movies are more visible. Can't see any other way a monitor can affect video playback.

The reason i bought it, was in part bacause of this article, and that is uses the same panel as the Samsung 139P. But while being as good as the Samsung 139P, it costs less.Reply

I bought this monitor based on the review. This is my first LCD. My photos look wonderful, text is very readable, but any sort of mpg video is very very poor compared to my crt. Is this normal? if it is, it may have to go back.

I am having a problem with this monitor that I cnanot solve:
Basically, what happens is that the monitor goes into power save mode and turns orange. When I click the OSD button on it, it says "please move mouse/keyboard".

rivethead:
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Arrrgh! It shouldn't be this difficult. All I want is a 17" 8-bit panel from a good manufacturer with a response time of 16ms or less.
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Dam straight you are thinking along the exact same lines as me!

Well common Samsung/Sony/Viewsonic/Benq/Dell give us what we want! We will even pay you for your bother ;-pReply

I've tried to get information from every source I can think of (I even tried re-sellers on e-bay).

I've come to the following conclusion:

1) No one at Dell knows if their LCDs are 6 or 8-bit.(at least the CSRs and Tech Support people who I've talked to)

2) If it's this hard to get a simple question answered, I'm not sure I want to buy any Dell product.

I know that Dell makes a 17" LCD they call the "173". I'm betting it's the same panel that's in the Samsung 173. So after reading this review, now I'm wondering what panel is in the 1704FPV and 1704FPT? Another Samsung product? Which panel?

Arrrgh! It shouldn't be this difficult. All I want is a 17" 8-bit panel from a good manufacturer with a response time of 16ms or less.

I will say this: having these Anandtech reviews certainly is a help. Thanks!Reply

Enjoyed reading the article and all the comments. However, having recently bought a new Sony A Series VAIO Laptop with an X Black screen, all I can say is WOW!!!!!! The Dell, and for that matter, most screens dont even come close. Why????

Have you guys looked at newegg? There are a ton of 19" LCD's under 350 - I just picked up one with DVI and 21ms response time 600:1 contrast for $320 - no rebates or anything. I have never heard of CVM, but the monitor looks very nice, IMHO.

Does anyone know if the Dell UltraSharp 1705FPT is also a Samsung panel and/or an 8-bit panel?

I've asked the folks at Dell this 6 times over the past two weeks. They have no idea. It's been a very frustrating experience for me. Maybe I'm asking the question wrong, but you would think "Is the Dell UltraSharp 1705FPT an 8-bit or 6-bit panel?" is pretty clear enough.

Supposedly it's a 13ms response time monitor, so I'm betting it's 6-bit. I just can't seem to find a 17" 8-bit panel with a response time less than 25ms.....

Sorry if you've already read this question on the "General Hardware" forum.Reply

Accept any security messages you get. When the applet loads, maximise the window. It should look like this. Use your mouse to move the position of the globe. All those white pixels are indicating where satellites are in real time. If you orient the orbit lines parallel to the Y axis (up and down) and drag the mouse around you will perform a very good test on pixel update rate. Slower monitors will cause the satellites to disappear in the background as the scene is moved. Faster monitors will show them available at all times.

Nessism comments:

When moving the satellites on my 1905, they change from being a dot to being a small moving line (ghosting image of the dot). I'm not trying to bash this monitor, after all I do own one, just want to make people understand that there are limitations.

I have a 1905 and can assure everyone that it DOES ghost when moving quickly. As stated, everyone has a different sensitivity level...just don't expect this thing to perform like a CRT for fast motion because it does not. If you want a true gamming monitor, check out one of the fast TN monitors like the new Hyundai; they give up viewing angles and color but they are fast.

Fast with small viewing angles (TN) or slightly slower with better color and viewing angles (PVA). Take your pick, you can't have both.Reply

Looks like a great deal but I can relate: having a "dell" logo on something I own is just not kosher. :) Good thing I'm not in the market for an LCD.

My viewsonic vp181s has a usb hub, I didn't think it was that rare.

Call me bass ackwards, but I think 1280*1024 is just right for 19". Okay my panel is 18.1" but I would like to be able to sit a few inches father away and still read standard-sized text. On a notebook you're going to be sitting closer, so a little more resolution is okay, but those microscopic ones with 12" screens and huge resolutions are over the top. Most people I've seen turn the res down, which is a shame b/c then you're wasting the screen's potential.

Regarding the aspect issue, yes 1280*1024 is a little "squished," there's more vertical pixels. 1280*960 would be the "usual" 4:3 aspect ratio. To anyone thinking this is a drawback, honestly you don't notice that everything's a little shorter, I've been working at that res for some time.Reply

Some words to all the crt-to-lcd gamers out there, buzzled with anandtech guys politicaly correct statements about gaming on it:D

I happen to have Samsung 193P, so it's pretty much the same panel and so on.
long story short:

1. If you play stuff like mmo's and rts games, you will have no problems, and all gain from picture quality + less strain on eyes (than crt)

2. If you play stuff like CSS, UT2k4, BF1942, you will have serious ghosting. Dunno how come they dont see or recognize it. So shooting stuff wile running AND turning, is not simple, you must stop moving to aim properly.

I offer very simple way to see it, for Anandtech guys too, just fire up bf1942 and move the view left/right fast, with mouse, edges of buildings and vehicles etc jump over the screen, not like OMG wtfbbq is that wall doing here, but its indeed "ghosting", it doesnt exacly get in a way but it disturb seeing clearly and fast, while moving whole picture.

ps. I cant figure out how to set backlight temperature on my 193p, there is no temperature option in the soft, brightness isnt temperature.. can anyone help me find it? thnx in advanceReply

#31, that lady might get a few extra bucks based on her ratings, and to be honest, those guys try to get as much info as possible, but it doesn't quite work out all the time. I should know, I used to work in a place like that.

BTW, any chance of reviewing the Sony SDM-P234/B 23". I've been trying to find a good review on that LCD for quite a while, but unable to do so. I'd really appreciate it if kristopher can review one and let everyone know the good and the bad about that monitor. Thanks. Reply

I agree with TwistyKat. I have had enough Dell for a lifetime and I have never even technically ordered from them. I put in a Viewsonic monitor order 1/5 to ship on 1/28, the system was so screwed up my account had somebody elses name attached. After 10 emails, one long call to Mumbai, and another call where the guy basically just sat there didn't answer questions, and said nothing, then cut me off, I gave up and canceled my order on 1/26. They never did get the account fixed so the account linked with the order. It was always my responsibility to fix their problems, including filling out forms for the "webmaster", even though Dell reps could see it was hosed. When I called to cancel the US staff told me my VIEWSONIC monitor was in production at DELL (WTF?), requiring yet another call to Mumbai. The lady in Mumbai did tell me that she wanted me to give her a good rating on service, 1 being poor and 9 being excellent.Reply

As well as reviews of other popular models (like the 2005FPW, the HP L2335) are we going to one day get at least *one* set of reliable benchmarks at resolutions up and above 1600x1200 please please!!!!

Just a quick roundup of available dx9 cards with mid-high range amd/intel at resolutions up to 1920x1200 - is that too much to ask from your favourite hardware site? :)

Wide screen gaming seems to be taking off and Id really like to know what kind of performance im going to need to run at good frame rates if I do get say the dell, or the hp. Will my 9700pro cut it? Probably not but do I need as much as an xt850?

Great article, thanks! Any chance of reviewing the Apple 30" HD display? I'd love to see how it compares, especially with which video cards support it on a pc. most sites I've seen only talk about it on the apple platform.Reply

"It's my personal belief that the transient time between two current generation LCD monitors is practically impossible in real world applications, but everyone has different levels of sensitivity on the matter."

This sentence is confusing. I assume by transient time you mean response time, but I don't understand what the "transient time between two LCD monitors" means. Then you say the transient time is "impossible". Huh? What is impossible?

We were not able to get a sample of the 2005FPW in time for this review

I am sitting here looking at one and I know they have been out for some time. I am disappointed that you would make a statement like that. Could a better choice of words been used to substantiate as to why you chose NOT to include the 2005? The last thing I would hope to hear from this site is something that makes me doubt your authenticity.

Thanks for the review. I do want to echo someone earlier - where is the long for and much anticipated review of the 2005FPW? This monitor is clogging others boards with discussions and it would WONDERFUL to have something definitive from AnandTech!Reply

Why? Dell makes quality LCD screens and cheap basic computers for the average person. Just because we can build our own for the same price with twice the performance does't mean they're a bad company.Reply

I'm glad to hear, as noted in the review, that there continue to be LCDs affordable monitors being produced that are closing the gap between a LCD that produces a full range of color and LCDs that are fast enough for gaming.

It will be intresting to see if Dell can do a good job of keeping up with the demand for this monitor and resist the temptation to raise the price as its popularity grows. Anandtech's reviews no doubt carry a fair amount of clout when it comes to influencing consumers. I'm sure many others also noticed how quickly the NuTech L921G sold out just about everywhere and how the Viewsonic Q190MB went from being a bargain priced monitor to a premium priced model.

My guess is that someone else is putting together the L921G for Nutech. It would be very interesting to know who this and who else they are providing monitors to.Reply

#8 The review specifically states that the panel is 4:3:
"the UltraSharp 1905FP screen can pivot 90 degrees on its side to convert the 19" 4:3 aspect ratio into a 3:4 ratio instead"

So its 4:3 with a non 4:3 native resolution?%!@?# Why do makers do this! Is there any maker that does not do this in a 19"? It seems that if you want a panel whos native resolution is the same ratio as its physical dimentions then you need to get a 15, 17 or 20, no 19's!
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Correct me if I am wrong but the physical screen dimentions are 4:3 but the resolution is 1280x1024 which is not a 4:3 resolution. Will this not cause things to be displayed slightly "off"? A correct resolution would be 1280x960 or 1400x1050 etc etc.Reply

Excellent article. I own the Dell UltraSharp 1905FP and I find few faults with the monitor. I was wondering if it is possible to post your Colorvision calibrated profiles (the ones you used in the article). I dabble in image editing, but can't afford a decent hardware profiling system.

"We noticed poorer than typical results when using the analog 15-pin D-sub connector with extremely bad streaking/interference errors. There isn't a large reason to use analog in our opinion, so this is not a huge issue in the long run. The DVI signal quality was superb, as expected on a digital connection."

I'm stuck with this thing at work, nearly literally salvaged from the scrap heap to hook up to my hand-me-down laptop that sports a VGA out and a really poor 1366x768 resolution that makes the Ancient One an improvement.

Hilarious reading through the gushing for what must have been a very solid square (!!) monitor -- over nine years ago -- and to see that Anandtech figured nobody'd see the limitations of analog use "in the long run", just like I'm using it now in 2014. Maybe I'll watch the Matrix too for old time's sake^H^H^H to push the 1905FP to its limits. ;^)Reply